COLLEGE lecturers in Coventry and Warwickshire are to go on strike for a day in a protest over pay.

Lecturers who belong to trade union the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (Natfhe) have voted for a walkout at three Coventry and Warwickshire colleges.

They are Henley College in Henley Road, Henley Green, Coventry; North Warwickshire and Hinckley College in Hinckley Road, Nuneaton and Stratford College in Alcester Road, Stratford.

They have voted in favour of a one-day walkout on Wednesday, November 16 when they will join a rally in Birmingham to coincide with a visit by education secretary Ruth Kelly.

The lecturers are planning the strike in protest at a 2.8 per cent pay offer which they say is not enough. They say it's unfair they earn on average 10 per cent less than school teachers and believe the offer isn't big enough to close the gap.

Lecturers at City College Coventry in The Butts, Earlsdon and Tile Hill are not planning to go on strike as they are in the middle of negotiations.

Natfhe's head of colleges Barry Lovejoy said: "The government says further education is the engine of a successful dynamic economy so why does it leave our colleges running on empty? Our members are angry and resentful that whilst more and more is expected of them their pay is slipping further and further behind school teachers'. Given a choice between colleges and schools it is not hard to see which new recruits would opt for."

Sue Dutton, Association of Colleges deputy chief executive, said: "We don't anticipate major disruption across the college network. In those locations where action is taking place colleges will endeavour to minimise disruption to students."

"While colleges greatly value their excellent staff and believe that they should be rewarded they continue to struggle to match the market rates set by schools and industry."

She pointed out that if the government funded colleges at the same level as schools, colleges would be on average £600,000 a year better off.